


Out Too Long

by SonjaJade



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Eavesdropping, Gen, Jewelry, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-10-11 22:21:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10475712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SonjaJade/pseuds/SonjaJade
Summary: Al only knows half the story, and only the grandfather clock is laughing.





	

The ancient grandfather clock stood at the end of the hallway, and Ed could make out his reflection in the glass front of it.  He looked so different now…  He stood taller, broader, the wide eyed innocent look he seemed to carry most of his life was now gone, and for a moment, he just looked at himself.  Finally, his mind came back to the task, and the tiny objects, at hand.  With a smirk to himself, he knocked softly on Winry’s door, thinking that his new height really looked good on him.

“Winry?” he called.  He listened as bed sheets were rustled aside and two bare feet padded across the floor, coming closer to the door.  The knob turned and Ed watched as she all but flung the thing open.

“Ed?  Is everything alright?”

He gave her a grin. “Yeah, I um… I wanted to return these to you, since I came back alive and all.”  He opened his palm and three pairs of earrings glinted in the low light, two pairs of hoops and one pair of studs.  He watched as the girl’s mouth slowly dropped, surprised he’d managed to keep up with them at all.  “I kept them in my pocket the whole time we were apart,” he murmured quietly.

He felt a cool, soft hand come up and gently grab him by the wrist, tugging him forward.  “Help me put them in?” she asked, her blue eyes never leaving his.

Ed stumbled a little, nervous to be in her room so late at night… and with everyone else asleep, it was like he was  _alone with her_.

She sat down on the edge of the bed and switched on the lamp on her nightstand.  She carefully pulled her blonde hair away from her face, revealing her left ear and most of a creamy pale shoulder.  Ed did his best to stifle the gulp he took when she wasn’t looking at him.  He sat the earrings down, plucking a stud from the pile and pulling the back off.  He offered it to her but she shook her head.

“I can’t see where it goes, you’ll have to put it in…”

* * *

Al was getting ready to go looking for his brother after he’d waken and couldn’t find him.  Before he could properly search though, he heard their hushed voices coming from Winry’s room.  Being curious as to what the two of them were doing in the middle of the night together, like a good spy he pressed his ear to the wall and heard what Winry had said.  His eyes were as big as saucers when he heard Ed’s response…

“I’ve never done this before, I’m afraid I’ll fuck up.”

“Well, surely you have some kind of idea, Edward!” Winry laughed.  “Find the hole and shove it in!”

“But won’t it hurt?” Ed said in a shaky tone, clearly panicked.

Al had to cover his mouth to keep from gasping: Brother and Winry… they were… oh god!!!  However, as disturbing as it was to think of Ed naked and putting… things into other things… Al couldn’t tear himself away from the wall.  This body he had now, it was full of rampaging teenage boy hormones.  Sex was a mystery, a very intriguing one, and Al wanted to know what it sounded like, what it looked like (though he would _never dare_ look at Winry, who would murder him with a spanner without even blinking if she found out), so this exchange he was eavesdropping on was a _learning experience_.  Yes, that was what it was.  It certainly wasn’t _audio voyeurism_.

* * *

 

Ed took a deep breath.  “Alright, hold still… I’m right there where the hole is.  I’m gonna push now, okay?”

“Just do it quick and get it over with,” she said through gritted teeth, preparing for the bite of pain that opening closed up piercings brought.

“One, two, three!” Ed counted as he forced the stainless steel post through her flesh, and she cried out, hissing in pain.  “Dammit, I’m so sorry Winry!”

“It’s okay, Ed.  I was expecting it.  It just won’t be so bad the next few times, and it’ll be over soon.”  She waited for him to put the back on before reaching up and fingering the ball.  “It feels right, there.  You did fine.”

* * *

 

Al scratched his head.  Wasn’t it supposed to last longer than that?  And it didn’t sound too enjoyable…

* * *

 

“Now that I know what I’m doing it should go a little easier, anyways.”  He lined up the second one and didn’t even give Winry a warning, just pushed it in.  “It’s really tight at first, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Winry groaned. "Really tight."

* * *

On the other side of the wall, Al was nearly in spasms from the sound of her voice alone.  There was the sound of movement, and she said in a mumble, “I think we better trade spots, you won’t be able to see like that.”

 _‘Changing position already??’_ Al thought, sliding quietly to the floor when he could stand no longer.

* * *

 

In Winry’s bedroom, the two of them sat down in the floor with her right ear now bared and facing the light so Ed could see where to push the earrings.  The two hoops in the lobe didn’t hurt so bad, and Ed found it was easier for both of them if he didn’t say much and just went ahead and got it over with.  But when it came to the hoops in her upper ear, in the cartilage, they kind of ran into a snag…

Ed lined up the post end and bared down, but he only managed to pop through the tight skin there.  “I’m sorry, I know it hurts,” he soothed as she hissed and moaned in pain.  “I’m trying to go as fast as I can.”

“It’s alright, just come on and do it.  Don’t stop now!!”  Her eyes were squeezed shut and her knuckles white from gripping her hair on the other side of her head.  “Come on Edward, please!”

He pushed harder, she cried out as it popped through the cartilage, then winced as it came out the other side.  Without putting the back on it, Ed reached over and grabbed the last earring.  “Almost done,” he panted, mostly on account of his nerves.  He grabbed her ear roughly, lined up and began shoving.  “Unnng, almost… almost…”  With a final desperate effort, he pushed as hard as he could, and the post went all the way through in a single pass… straight into the pad of his finger, down to the bone.  He gave a shout of expletives, and Winry gave a high pitched yelp, followed by a few seemingly blissful groans, and then finally a contented sigh.

* * *

 

Al pulled away from the wall, hand over his mouth, eyes wide and unblinking…  _‘Is that really what it’s like?’_ he wondered.  Completing his personal mission of finding his brother, and getting what he thought was a free biology lesson, he stood and tiptoed back to bed, sliding under the covers and digesting this new information.

* * *

 

Ed sucked on his finger for a moment, then finished putting the backs of the earrings on for Winry.  She grabbed his hand.  “It means a lot to me that you were able to bring them back, and for you to be able to put them back in for me.  Thank you.”

His cheeks blushed and he stammered, “It was no big deal really.  I was glad to carry ‘em.  I was glad to have a reason to keep my head clear and make it back.  I should be thanking you!” he smiled.

He watched as she rose up on her knees and leaned forward, one hand on his cheek.  “I haven’t given you a proper welcome home…” she whispered.  Her gaze looked from his eyes to his mouth, and as she bent her head to the side, she closed in on him, and her lips landed softly against his.  She felt him exhale against her face and his hand reach up and thread itself into the hair at the back of her head.  He kissed her back, then pulled away.

“I better get back…  Al still has nightmares sometimes, I don’t want him to freak out if I’m not there when he wakes up.”  He saw how her eyes seemed to droop.  Boldly, he touched her chin and stole a quick peck from her.  “Thank you.  I’ll see ya in the morning.”

She got up and walked him to the door, her face pinked as they said goodnight to each other.  He gave her hand a squeeze before turning and walking back to his own room.  He opened and closed the door as quietly as he could, then crawled into the bed.

“Brother?” Al asked quietly.

“I didn’t know you were awake, Al,” Ed yawned.  “Everything okay?”

“Yeah…  I just wanted to congratulate you.”  He sounded very small, like a young boy again.

“Congratulate me?” Ed asked looking over his shoulder.  “What for?”

“For… you know… with Winry.  It sounded painful for her.”  He sighed.  “I wonder if I’ll be able to do the same one day, knowing how bad it hurts for the girl and all.”

Ed rolled over.  “Well, they say there’s a first time for everything.  And I’m sure Mei’ll be fine.  She’s a tough girl,” he yawned, recalling that Mei’s ears weren’t pierced at all. 

“Maybe.  Goodnight, Ed.”

“Goodnight Al.”

The grandfather clock in the hallway chimed three, laughing in spite of itself at the joke that only it had been privy to.


End file.
